Distillation of bituminous coal and the like.



J. M. BUS-BY & 0. B. EVANS.

DISTILLATION 0F BITUMINOUS GOAL AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED DBO. 4,-1911.

Patented June 25, 1912.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. 1

JOHN RUSBY AND OWEN B. EVANS, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGN- ORS TO THE UNITED GAS IMPROVEMENT COMPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENN- SYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

DISTILLAI'ION OF BITUMINOUS COAL AND LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 4, 1911.

Patented J une 25, 1912. Serial no. 663,809.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN M. RUsBY and OWEN B. EVANS, citizens of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, Pennsylvan a, have jointly invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Distillation of Bituminous Coal and the Like, of which the following is a specification. y

The distillation of volatile matter from bituminous or soft coal, and other fuels or carbonaceous material containing such volatile constituents yields, as its products coke (fixed carbon) and gases and vapors; and has heretofore, to great extent,and where it is desired to. collect these gases and vapors for sale or other external use, solely,-been effected by inclosing these carbonaceous materials in various forms of re torts tightly closed, with the exception of an outlet for the delivery and collection of the gas, and reflecting their distillation by the application of heat to the exterior of the retort. Consequently the heat necessary for.

the distillation can reach the interior of the retort only by the comparatively slow process of conduction through the walls of the retort. Furthermore, because of the high' temperature that must be employed to effect the complete distillation of the carbonaceous material and the production therefrom. of good gas and coke,nthese retorts must be made of material Whichis very refractory to, or infusible by, heat, and also incapable .of'i destruction by oxidation or other-a chemical action; firebrick is the material very generally used. This ,firebrickis a very poor conductor of heat and is also brittle and weak, andthe rotor-ts must conconsequence of this thickness and the carbonaceous material is veryslow, and hence the distilling ofany large quantity of carbonaceous mattcrxpervunit of time can only beieflected by employing retorts of very large surface. These retorts, and their appurtenant and inclosing parts, or setting, must therefore be of very large size, and are expensive in every item of construction; they are also subject to rapid deterioration, and are expensive in repair and maintenance; because of their large size the waste of heat to the atmosphere by radiation and conduction from the exterior of the setting, is great; because therapid heating of any one portion of the retorts or are simpler and less expensive in construca tion and operation than the foregoing retort systems. Even in these, however, comparatively very large masses of the bituminous coal are subjected to heat applied toa portion of their surface; the distillation of the interior of the mass is, therefore, very slow. Furthermore, these systems are not designed to produce, and are not capable of producing, for sale or other external use a large tile portion of the coal.

One object of the present invention'is to provide an expeditious method which will satisfactorily execute the work of distillation heretofore accomplished, by any and all ofthe foregoing systems; which will either whooly avoid, or .very greatly reduce, the foregoing described construction, maintenance and operation costs, and other objec tionable features of the retort system; which will be also superior to the bee hive oven and other similar systems, in that it will accomplish the work of distillation much more quickly, and can also yield almost the entire volatile content of the bituminous coal or other carbonaceous materialas good gas for sale or other external use: which will yield, or good quality, of gas from the vola I possessthe great superiority over all other systems that, as will be shown from the fol- 1owing description, its necessary construction and operation are so simple that it can be economically employed on any scale of magnitude whatever, even the smallest,

whereas other systems which are capable of yielding equally good products require, for economical operation, large and expensive installations; which will be capable, unlike other systems, of being put into or out of operation with very great rapidity, and

when in use its operation can be temporarily suspended, as desired, without expense or injury; and which will be capable of most satisfactorily distilling, and furnishing the best quality of products from, any kind or grade of carbonaceous matter whatever which is not generally true of other systems which are capable of yielding the same products; for instance, in the by-product coke oven which yields one of the best hitherto produced grades of coke, great care must be exercised in choosing the kind of bituminous coal to be disti1led,"for if this coal shall not suitably contract, or shall expand, in being distilled to coke, it will break the weak walls of the retort either in the process of distillationor when the coke produced is being expelled from the retort.

Another object of the present invention is to provide for cheaply and rapidly obtaining lumps of good hard coke even in small quantity and by means of small and inexpensive apparatus-from low grade bituminous coal or like carbonaceous material, thus -making the latter usable in the manufacture of water and fuel gas and in many other arts.

A description of our process is as follows:

The bituminous coal, or any other carbona-v ceous matter to be distilled, is disposed in layers or other forms of small transverse section, which layers or other forms are in,

stices,'that they are .freely permeable by I gases, and they are so disposed as to form, with possible connecting passages, long continuous very porous ducts, which are thus easily traversable by gases throughout their entire length. The provision of these ducts, and the insurance of their maintenance during the process of distillation is important and provides for tlie Carrying} of air and hfit ereafter. T e,

gases, as will be explained transverse sectionof these ducts is, as already suggested, of such 'form,for in stance, broad and shallow,that all of the sired. I

vapors winch 1t 1s desired to burn is so refractory material forming the duct is either in immediate contact with, or very.

close to, the carbonaceous material to be distilled, which, as already described, immediately. adjoins, or surrounds, the duct of refractory material. Heated gases are caused to traverse the ducts of refractory material either continuously or intermittently, according to the nature of the carbonaceous material being distilled and the nature ofthe products desired to be obtained therefrom. These heated gases may be produced by, and introduced into the ducts from, some external source; preferably, however, the refractory material forming the ducts shall be lumpsof coke or hard coal (which are composed almostentirely of fixed carbon, the most infusible of substances), and the hot gases be generated by the combustion of a portion of this coke or hard coal, and also by the combustion of a portion, large or small as desired, of the combustible gases and vapors distilled from the surrounding carbonaceous material, which gases and vapors flow from the carbonaceous material into the ducts; air with or without steam for supporting this combustion is supplied in whatever quantity is necessary into the inlet-end of the ducts, and the resulting hot combustion gases flow through the entire length of the ducts, thoroughly permeating the refractory materiall The heat of the hot combustion gases is imparted vto the carbonaceous material in two ways; a portion of the hot gases come directly into contact with the carbonaceous material, and thus yield up their heat directly and instantaneously, while another portion of the hot gases imparts its heat to therefractory material, whence this heat isradiated and conducted into the carbonaceous material. If, as may be desired, the passage of hot gases through 'the ducts is intermittent, then the refractory material will store heat from the hot gases during their flow, and again give this heat out to the carbonaceous material during the period of cessation of flow of the hot gases.

If it is desired to collect for sale or other external use the gases and vapors distilled from the carbonaceous material, then the admission of air and combustion shall be made, intermittent, and this period of combustion shall be made as brief and the admission ofair and combustion correspondingly as rapid, as desired; thereby the combustion of gases and vapors distilled from the carbonaceous materlal, which distillation takes place approximately at' a uniform rate, can be rendered as smallasde- If the portion of the gases and refractory material shall be coke cry-hard coal, and its combustion shall'replace to the necessary degree that of the distilled gases and vapors. These gases and vapors can during the period of cessation of air admission and combustion be removed by appropriate outlets, and stored or used externally, as desired.

As has already been stated, the providing of the ducts and the insuring of their maintenance by the employment of refractory material in their formation, is very important. The carbonaceous material which is to be distilled is usually not readily combustible until after distillation is largely completed; also, this carbonaceous material is frequently very fine and compact and not readily permeable by gases or air; also, and still more important, this carbonaceous material will, in general, in

the process of being heated soften and cake, .or assume a coherent plastic condition, which will make it almost entirely impermeable by gases or air. Consequently, the ducts of refractory material are relied upon to convey the air necessary for combustion and the resulting gases of combustion throughout the carbonaceous materialand impart to it the heat necessary for its distillation;'tl1ese ducts also receive the gases and vapors distilled from the carbonaceous material and permit their instant combustion as distilled, or their conveyance to the exterior of the apparatus, as desired. Inasmuch as the charge including the ducts is movable, it follows that the weight thereof is constantly effective for consolidating the coal while plastic in the process of distillation, thereby producing dense and firm coke. It is possible to introduce additional or secondary air and thus by turning any unburned combustible gases to heat the charge.

The invention can be practiced by means of a variety of apparatus but forms of apparatus suitable for its practice will now be described in connection with the invention itself or, more accurately, with illustrative embodiments of the invention and in connection with the accompanying drawings in Which-- the invention in another way.

In describing the invention in connection Withthe apparatus illustrated, it is not the intention to limit the invention but it intention to explain it.

is the, be introduced by at in the chamber 1, and

These layers are in immediate contact with and are separated from each other by layers 4 of infusible porous material, such as pieces of brick or the like or pieces of coke, or hard coal, and being thus constituted are flexible and capable of responding to movements of expansion, contraction and travel of the bed. Not by way of limitation but for the sake of description, it will be assumed that coke is employed as the infusible or refractory material. The layers 4, constitute the porous ducts that extend continuously through thefuel." Assuming that the operation has been started and that'it is desired to save the gas distilled from the carbonaceous material, air is introduced through a, by the connections a, and by reason of the slide or damper b, is caused to traverse the lower strataor layers or ducts 4, so that combustion takes place and the material of the ducts is heated. The slide 'b, is open and secondary air can be admitted at 0, so that further combustion taking place in the upper ducts 4, serves to preheat the oncoming charge of fuel and ducts. The products of combustion pass out,

at an. The air can then be shut off and the distillation of the carbonaceous material continues by reason of the heat stored in the substance which forms the ducts and the distilled gas and vapors may be led oif through the off-take connections 0 or m by way of the'ducts 4. These operations are repeated and may from time to time be conducted from opposite sides of the apparatus, the fittings of which are duplicates. As the process continues the layers of carbonaceous material are converted into coke so that at the bottom there is coke of which someoriginally constituted the ducts and the rest was derived from the carbonaceous material, and the coke which is thus quickly made can be used in re-charging the ap paratus along with fresh carbonaceous material in the manner described, that is to say, in such a way that porous ducts are provided: In starting, the-contents of the chamber 1", may be. heated by the introduction of hot gases from the auxiliary producer or generator (1, or in any convenient manner, and the coke may be removed from the chamber 1, or, if preferred, steam may -made to the Stratification of the carbonaceous material and to the ducts as being horizontal; however, as shown in Fig. 2, the stratification is vertical and after all the exact form of the ducts or the manner in which they are arranged is not of the essence of the invention, the point is that the bed shall be sub-divided by movable porous ducts which extend through it and which are substantially continuous so that they aflord passages for hot gases and vapors with the result that distillation takes place throughout the bed by the direct application of heat as distinguished from the 'use of impervious retorts or immovable and rigid or fixed devices.

In Fig. 2, 5 indicates the sub-divisions,

' layers or strata of the carbonaceous material and 6 are the porous ducts. The receptacle 7 in Fig. 2, may be of circular horizontal cross-section and the air with or without steam and gas may be conducted through the pipe I: by means ofv the connections 71., for the air and z, for the gas which is distilled. w 'is the ofli-take for products of combustion. In general the method as practiced in connectlon with the apparatus of Fig.2, is the same as has been described, and the process may be started by introducinghot gas or air and combustible gas as has been described in connection with Fig. 1. The charges may be fed in at the top through the opening 8. In connection with Fig. 1 the material can be easily charged in horizontal layers and in connection with Fig. 2, in order to charge. the material in vertical or upright layers use may be made of a charger 9 consisting of suitably supported partitions 11. The space between the partitions 11, may be narrower at the top than 1 at the bottom to facilitate the passage of material. The material for the ducts is charged between two of the partitions and the carbonaceous material is charged through the space between adjacent partitions and the charging may be done by hand or in any convenient way. It is possible whenthe charger is circular, to rotate it through90 every once in a while and when this is done thelayers are arranged so as to break joint while maintaining continuous ducts, and the result of thisis shown in Figs. 4 and 5, in

. which 12 is the carbonaceous materialand 13 are the porous ducts. Evidently after the process has been carried on the resulting coke'may'be used as the material with which to form the porous ducts so that in operating with low grade bituminous coal or the like it is onlynecessary to obtain a sufiicient supply of. coke or refractory material with which .to begin the operation or with which to form the ducts initially.

By way of explanatlon 1t may be said that the present invention is applicable for dis tilling carbonaceous materlals of such quality that they are practically incombustible until partly coked or carbonized and of such quality that when heated they tend to ,meltand run together forming a mass through which air cannot be passed successfully as by blasting or the like and of a quality-which may expand or contract unduly when carbonized, and by the present invent-ion such carbonaceous materials are converted into an excellent quality of coke in a cheap and if desired small apparatus in any quantity required and more rapidly and expeditiously than they can be converted by means of an elaborate and expensive apparatus of large size, so that such carbonaceous materials by our invention can be utilized for producing coke and from. the coke fuel or water gas can be made, so that as a result, fuel or. water gas can be made from carbonaceous materials which were hitherto utterly unsuited for the purpose, as it would not repay an ordinary gas works to install such expensive coke ovens and devices as were hitherto required for treating the qualterial which consists in preparing and maintaining a stratiform bed of the material and of permeable refractory substance, and-converting the material into coke by heating thematerial throughout the mass by direct internal combustion in contact with it.

2. The method of distilling bituminous coal or other combustible carbonaceous material'which consists in preparing and-maintaining a stratiform bed of the material and permeable refractory substance, and converting the material into 'coke by heat-ing the material throughout the mass'by intermittently blasting the permeable strata of refractory material to produce internal combustion and store heat throughout the mass in direct contact with the layers of the material.

-3. The method of distilling bituminous .coal or other carbonaceous material which consists in arranging the material and. a refractory substance in the :form of separate ducts extending continuously. through the material from top to bottom thereof and converting the material into coke by par ?ing hot gas through the "ducts of refractory substance. v e 4. The method of distilling bituminous coal or other carbonaceous material which consists in arranging the material and. a refractory substance in the form of. separate yielding ducts extending continuously meable refractory substance, and converting 10 through the material from face to face thematerial int-0 coke by passing hot gases thereof and converting the material into through the strata of refractory substance.

coke by passing hot gas'through the ducts JOHN M RUSBY of refractory substance. 5. The method of distilling bituminous OWEN EVANS coal or other carbonaceous material which Witnesses: consists 1n preparing and maintamm'g a A. B. STOUGHTON,

\stratiform bed of the material and of per- S. E. PATTERSON. 

